Questions tagged [zizek]

Slavoj Žižek (1949 - ) is a Slovenian philosopher.

The following are some sources for more information about Žižek.

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Can cruelty and suffering be justified if it might lead to social transformation?

Slavoj Žižek is generally viewed as controversial. But in watching a recent video made by him, he had a good point about us lengthening the pain of others. For example, he argues that "good" slave owners created more of a problem because they did…
Matt
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What are the most significant contributions Slavoj Žižek has made to the field of philosophy?

What are the most significant contributions Slavoj Žižek has made to the field of philosophy, perhaps in particular to political philosophy?
Kenshin
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Who is the Big Other, and is there a little Other?

Zizek often draws on Lacan term the Big Other; what is this and what does it mean? One supposes that there may also then be a little other - is this right? What would be sensible examples of either kind?
Mozibur Ullah
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Why did Heidegger (postmodernism) ignore Schelling's later thought?

F.W.J. Schelling (1775-1854) seems to be a seriously overlooked figure of modern philosophy: is there a good reason (beyond the merely historical) for his diminished relative importance compared, for instance, to Hegel? Heidegger admitted that…
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Is Slavoj Žižek taken seriously in academic circles?

I first saw a couple of youtube videos of Slavoj Žižek and was impressed by his style and his ideas. Then I tried to read "The Parallax View" and found it very difficult to follow and incoherent from one paragraph to the other, almost a parody of…
Alexander S King
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How would Zizek explain his own popularity with contemporary media?

The functioning of cinema and other artistic and informational mediums within capitalism have been problematised by Zizek from a number of perspectives. within the huge volume of content which Zizek has produced the role of critique or critical…
Dr Sister
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Help me get this Hegel joke

A Facebook group Philosophy Matters posts philosophy related jokes from time to time. Today they posted this image : with the caption hegel, le sacre monstre Now not knowing anything about Hegel I of course do not know enough to get the joke,…
hellyale
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What does Lacan mean by signifiers presenting a subject for another signifier?

I was reading an article on Lacan's Signifier concept posted on nosubject.com. I am very confused by this one sentence: Lacan defines a signifier as "that which represents a subject for another signifier," in opposition to the sign, which…
Dennis Kozevnikoff
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What does Slavoj Zizek mean by Hegel's reading of "felix culpa"?

Recently I watched "The duel of the century" between Slavoj Zizek and Jordan Peterson. Briefly in 2:17:45 min. Zizek points out to Hegel reading of "The story of the fall", a quote from Zizek This is how Hegel reads the story of the fall, that fall…
Djordje
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Too involved with who you think you are

What does Slavoj Zizek mean when he says "...too involved with who you think you are..." and quoting Lacan "a madman is not only a beggar who thinks he is a king but also a king who thinks he is a king"? I recognise this structure in an extreme form…
Mehran
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Slavoj Žižek on Silicon Valley culture

I'm looking for a certain remark made about Silicon Valley technologists as "fascists". Or a related remark. I don't remember if it was part of an article or something said in an interview.
Sol Crenshaw
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What is a Master-Signifier?

I am currently reading "The Fragile Absolute" by Slavoj Žižek. In chapter four he talks about the Master-Signifier. I am not very familiar with Lacan's concepts (I think it comes from him), so could someone please explain this concept to me (with…
Attila
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Can Julian Assange be considered a political philosopher?

Here I do not mean philosophy as its original ancient greek meaning, love of the wisdom. What I mean is a person who establishes the central ideas of some movement, cult, etc. If the answer is yes, what philosophers are similar to him? Michel…
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Can Zizek's big Other be seen as a collective form of "bad faith"?

I refer to this question to define the big Other for Zizek. Couldn't the big Other be seen as what enforces the mauvaise foi (what makes us behave like we have no choice to avoid existential dread), but at society level instead of individual level?
Puzzle
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Questions on Peter Hallward's introduction to Alain Badiou's Ethics?

In his introduction to "Ethics" by Alain Badiou he does a quick run down on how the analytic ethics of Lacan differ from the philosophical ethics of Badiou. I'm having a hard time understanding some of what he says, particularly this part: 'What…
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